GDRWDW Bydgoszcz, Poland. 20th July, 2016. Imani-Lara Lansiquot of Great Britain in the heats of the women's 100m during the morning session on day 2 of the IAAF World Junior Championships at Zawisza Stadium on July 20, 2016 in Bydgoszcz, Poland. © Roger Sedres/Alamy Live News

From South London To First Place, Gold Medals & Olympic Dreams

Coming from an area which is not best known for its birth of athletic stars, Imani-Lara Lansiquot’s rapid rise into the sporting world has been like a rock dropped into a pool of water.

Her achievements have rippled through communities and her recent continuous trail of success has definitely been turning heads.

Beginnings:

Born in South London’s Peckham, Imani (aged 19) has worked endlessly to become a self proclaimed track star.

After finding her gift, at just the age of 6, Imani’s continuous trails of milestone achievements in the track is what differentiated her from others.

From, being classified as the ‘Fastest U20 in Britain’ (both indoors and outdoors) in 2016, captaining the Great Britain & Northern Ireland Junior Team; winning a gold medal on the 4×100 relay for Britain, to consecutively winning gold medals at the English School Championships.

All these achievement have led Imani to see the importance of the continuous grafting she needed in order to blossom.

Despite all her past accomplishments, Imani told us she only has her eyes on being an Olympic Medalist.

‘I want to be an Olympic Gold Medalist one day. But along with that, and maybe more importantly, I want to have an established career that stands out with the best female sprinters in history.’

 

Climbing Obstacles & Pushing Barriers:

Growing up, like any ordinary aspiring athlete, Imani’s childhood was full of dreams but also setbacks.

Being a full-time athlete, many of her hours are sacrificed in the track; training to become the best.

But such dedication came with a price of unprecedented setbacks, both internal and external.

Some of the hardest problems she had to overcome were injuries and the difficulty of balancing studies and athletics

 

This all summed up to her greatest obstacle she had to overcome while growing up – her battle to resist ‘the urge to quit’.

On the road to success there will be many pitfalls and setbacks. The urge to quit. To take the easy way way out may linger over our minds however Imani states:

‘establishing a really good support system through the likes of family and friends will be the key to scaring away cheap fears’

Imani was able to remain motivated through her dedicated time in the track, her father, and close friends.

‘The obstacles also forced me to form a strong sense of self-belief from a young age. That enabled me to push through all of the hard training, the nerves at competitions, and to deal with sacrifices, because I knew how badly I wanted to be great.

Future Prospects:

After recently signing a 2-year professional contract with Puma, we are already seeing glimpses of what type of career Imani-Lara Lansiquot is going to have. Hint…fruitful and successful.

Such passion and dedication may be questioned upon by many, especially those who are aspiring and striving to be as successful as she is.

When asked what paved the way for her success in athletics, she expressed the importance of never giving up on your dreams, however crazy they may sound.

‘I first realized I had a passion for running at my first ever sports day at 6 years old. I remember lining up on the grass at the local park and having this burning desire to win. It’s quite funny to think about, because it felt like an Olympic final even though we were all in fancy dresses! I won the race and I knew from then that I had found my gift.’

A dream that she had at the age of 6; now a reality. Will you do the same?


Editors Thoughts:

To see someone blossom to success from the same humble beginnings we’re around every day is always inspirational; it’s a testimony to the fact that hard work and consistency is the ‘major key’.

For me, it shows that sporting success isn’t out of one’s reach, it just depends on how bad you want it and if you’re brave enough not to conform to get to where you want be. Imani is an infallible embodiment of resilience and I hope we hear more from her successes in the near future.

–  Philip Asiamah